


Nowhere to go

by taztaas (manala)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 09:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15216644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manala/pseuds/taztaas
Summary: It's time to leave the moonbase. Angus has nowhere to go.





	Nowhere to go

**Author's Note:**

> For maemi324 who asked for Angus and Taako with the prompt “I need to know if you’re okay or not.”  
> Send me a prompt or a request on my tumblr [here](https://taztaas.tumblr.com/) or just pop in for a chat :3

Angus paused in his packing for a moment and looked through the small porthole window of his room on the moonbase. The weather was overcast so there wasn’t much to see, all of Faerun below covered by clouds, white and varying shades of gray. It looked like nothing, like the cloud-covered sky was all there was. Empty, like there was nothing below and for Angus… there wasn’t.

He didn’t have anywhere to go.

Angus sniffled, his nose still a bit stuffy, but he wasn’t going to cry again. It wouldn’t help any and he wasn’t a baby! He was eleven years old and he knew how to iron his own shirt collars and polish his shoes and how to fold fitted sheets and everything. It was fine, he would be fine!

But he had thought…

Angus clutched the shirt forgotten in his hands, wrinkling it.

He had hoped.

He carefully set the shirt in his suitcase. Unnecessary, since it was already rumpled. Angus stared down at it for a moment, swallowed down a lump in his throat. He rubbed his nose and grabbed a pair of pants from his bed, already folded. He shook them out and started re-folding them. He was stalling and he knew it.

Even now, when it was finally time to leave, now that almost everyone else had left, he was hoping that someone would come. That someone would remember him. A vain hope, a foolish wish, and he knew it. People had been leaving the moonbase for a week already. Someone would have already come if they were going to.

Still, Angus had hung around until the last possible moment, waiting, but now he had to leave. He was alone but he would be fine, surely. He had been fine before! He could do it again.

It was harder now, though. The thought of being alone. After all the goofs and the magic lessons and the Candlenights presents and-

Someone knocked on his door.

Angus dropped the of pair socks he was holding but he didn’t have time to do anything else before Taako stormed into the room, all decked out for travel in knee-high heeled boots, simple pants, a flowy top and a fashionable capelet. His hair was braided, as usual, and his favorite wizard hat sat upon his head. He looked ready to go.

“‘sup, boychik?”

Angus didn’t answer, caught by surprise by both Taako’s unexpected appearance and the fact that the wizard had actually bothered to knock before coming in. Not that he had waited for permission to enter but still. Every other time Taako had just walked right into his room.

“Oh! Um, I’m packing my things, sir,” Angus said, twisting the hem of his shirt in his hands. Why was Taako here? Something small and warm fluttered in his chest. Maybe he was here to pick him up?

“Still?” Taako scoffed, flipping his braid. “How much shit do you even have? I’ve seen you wear like, three different shirts.”

He dropped on Angus’ bed and started going through the folded clothes on the bedspread, shaking his head at most of them before carelessly chucking them in the open suitcase.

“Guess ch’boy’s gotta help you out. Else you’ll still be here next month.”

“Oh,” Angus said, trying not to sound disappointed as the warmth in his chest flickered out. Taako was here to just help him pack. To get rid of him sooner. “Thank you, sir.”

Taako said nothing, opting to keep throwing Angus’ things haphazardly into the suitcase. Angus quickly went to gather his books before Taako had time to manhandle those too. He reached for the pile on his desk but paused as he saw the same Caleb Cleveland book he had gifted on Candlenights resting on top of the stack. He brushed his fingers over the cover but was startled out of his reverie when a droplet of something fell on the book. Water? But how-

Oh.

Oh. He was crying again. Even though he had decided not to. He checked to see if Taako was looking and found the elf facing the other way so he quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. No need to cause a scene, McDonald.

“We done here, kiddo?”

Angus nodded, keeping his eyes on the books as he brought them over to the suitcase and placed them in before closing the lid. He blinked rapidly, trying to keep more tears from falling because Taako didn’t need to see that. Angus knew how uncomfortable the elf was with emotional situations and he didn’t want to leave on a bad note.

He was just about to reach for the handle of the bag when Taako’s hand shot out and grabbed it first. The wizard went to lift the bag off the bed but gave up almost immediately.

“Oof!” He huffed and let the bag drop back onto the bed as if it was extremely heavy. Angus knew it wasn’t though, he had carried his things here himself when he moved up to the base and he really hadn’t accumulated much stuff during his stay. He followed Taako’s theatrics, tears momentarily forgotten. Luckily, the elf wasn’t making eye contact so he didn’t notice.

“Actually, fuck this,” Taako said, frowning at his fingers as if they were hurting. “These beautiful hands weren’t meant for physical labor.”

Angus cleared his throat, hoping that his voice would sound normal. “It’s alright sir, I can- I can carry the bag myself.”

“Yeah, no.” Taako snorted. “There’s no way you’re carrying that all the way to the house, squirt.” He reached into his pocket and took out his Stone of Farspeech. “Lemme just call Kravitz, he might as well give us a ride home.”

“What?” Angus whispered and finally, Taako looked at him properly, for the first time since he entered the room. Angus wasn’t sure what his face looked like, but judging by the way Taako paled and froze on the spot with his Stone halfway raised up to his mouth, it couldn’t have been too good. Taako recovered after a couple of seconds and looked away, his eyes everywhere except on the boy in front of him.

“I mean, if you don’t want to- to come and live at my house that’s cool,” Taako said quickly, wringing his hands and fiddling with the Stone. “You’re missing a great opportunity tho, I mean, living with Taako from TV? That’s- that’s not something everyone-”

Angus stared, eyes wide as Taako descended into nervous babbling. Was this really happening? Maybe he had misunderstood? But Taako had said-

Angus’ lip started to quiver. He stared at the wildly gesturing elf in front of him, who was still adamantly avoiding looking in Angus’ direction as he talked.

Taako had said he’d take him home.

The dam broke.

Angus’ face scrunched up and he wailed, unable to help it. He saw Taako startle violently, and he met the elf’s wide eyes before he hid his face with his hands and sobbed.

“Shit! You okay kid?!”

Angus cried. He knew he was overreacting but he had been waiting all week, hoping that someone would at least remember to say goodbye to him and now Taako, his magic teacher, was here and was offering him a place to stay? It was better than what he could have imagined.

“Ango? Hey, Angus? Fuck! What do I do, what do I do...”

Angus could hear Taako pacing around in the room but he was too overwhelmed to respond. He gasped for breath and wiped his eyes until he felt a weight on his shoulder.

He raised his face and saw Taako, kneeling in front of him with his hand on Angus’ shoulder.

“Angus, hey,” he said unsurely, leaning closer. “You hear me? Are you okay?”

Angus nodded, wiping his runny nose. Taako squeezed his shoulder.

“Okay, yeah, that’s good, uh- you uh,” Taako stumbled to find words. He looked away briefly, biting his lip before meeting Angus’ eyes again. “Do you- fuck, I should’ve asked first, what a fucking idiot, do you wanna come with me? To my house? Or, well, I mean, Kravitz might be around too so it’s not strictly mine but uh-”

“Yes, please,” Angus croaked out, cutting off Taako’s tirade. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The warmth and pressure of Taako’s hand helped.

Taako searched his eyes. “You sure?” He said quietly, grabbing Angus’ hand.

“Yes,” Angus said and felt that flutter in his chest again, warmer and more powerful, growing steady and settling into a comforting hum.

“Okay,” Taako sighed, almost deflating a bit, the tension in his shoulders melting away. “Okay. Lemme make that call, yeah?”

Angus nodded again. Taako gave him a shaky smile, obviously uncomfortable but he was trying. Angus smiled back, brushing the wetness off his cheeks.

Taako got back onto his feet and grabbed his Stone again. But to Angus’ delight, he didn’t let go of his hand.


End file.
